Action Alerts – Week of June 12 – CNY Solidarity Coalition

CNY Solidarity members and supporters:

Please find below the weekly ACTION ALERTS from our legislative action team. Also, please note that for the remainder of the summer, these legislative ACTION ALERT emails will be moving to an irregular schedule. If you start to miss them, don’t despair! We’re still monitoring our reps and will be back with further action alerts soon, just not necessarily every Monday.

Many of us will be attending the Pulse Memorial/Orlando 49 Candle-lighting tonight at 7pm at City Hall, 233 E. Washington St. in Syracuse. This weekend, some of us will be marching in CNY Pride at the Syracuse Inner Harbor, and others will be celebrating Juneteenth in Clinton Square. If you’d be willing to help staff a CNY Solidarity table at Juneteenth, please email Dana Balter dana.balter@gmail.com.

A quick update from our state legislative action team: Thanks to all who responded with interest to an adopt-a-district style town hall w/ NYS Senator Breslin. His office was unable to fit CNY Solidarity in his schedule for this week. Also, there was an insufficient number of interested responses from CNY Solidarity Coalition to make a good showing for him to come that distance. So, we will not have a town hall this week, but hopefully can arrange an adopt-a-district town hall in the future.

And now, the legislative action alerts:

Monday (June 12): 1 phone call today and 1 on-line petition, plus the Orlando Pulse vigil tonight

Defend health care and support immigrant rights with one call

The Verify First Act (HR 2581) is both an anti-Affordable Care Act (ACA) and an anti-immigrant bill. The bill would deprive ELIGIBLE immigrant families, including those with citizen kids, from accessing the ACA and seeing a doctor when they get sick. It also would hurt the ACA by keeping young, healthy, immigrants from participating in the marketplaces, something which helps keep premiums down for everyone. More details here. The House is planning a floor vote tomorrow. Please call Rep. Katko TODAY and urge him to vote NO. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Say NO to the IDC!

This is an easy one: Sign and share this online petition as part of a continuing effort to urge State Senator Dave Valesky to leave the IDC! The IDC is the “Independent Democratic Conference,” a group of elected Democrats in the NYS Senate who refuse to caucus with their Democratic colleagues, thus giving control of the chamber to the Republicans. This control allows the GOP to prevent votes from being held on essential legislation on a host of progressive issues. All 18 Democratic U.S. House members from NY, Senator Gillibrand, DNC co-chair Keith Ellison, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have called on the IDC to disband and rejoin the Democratic caucus.

After your phone calls, remember to join us tonight at 7pm in Syracuse for a Pulse Memorial/Orlando 49 Candle-lighting at City Hall.

Tuesday (June 13): 2 phone calls today (1 state, 1 federal), plus in-person lobbying for voting rights (for those who can make it to Albany)

Expand voting rights in NY this year!

NYS must modernize voter registration and election administration. In 2014, NYS ranked 47th in voter turnout. NYS must follow other states and implement Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), Same Day Registration (SDR) and Early Voting (ER). In addition, NYS should allow for no-excuse absentee ballots and more accessible ballots.

Join the Syracuse delegation at we carpool to the Voting Rights Day of Action in Albany (meeting at 8am at the Peace and Social Justice Center at 2013 E. Genesee Street). We can win early voting in New York this year and Senators Valesky and DeFrancisco are 2 of the 4 key senators on the Rules Committee who will decide whether this goes to the floor for a vote.

If you can’t make it to Albany, ….

Please take a few minute to call our State Senators and ask that they bring the Early Voting bill (S2950) to the floor of the Senate for a vote before the end of the session on June 21 and support early voting in New York –the bill sets up an 8 day early voting period that ends 2 days before election day. State Senators don’t get a lot of calls – so even 5 or 10 calls really makes a difference! Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.

Why is John Katko trying to undermine common-sense gun control in NY?

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (HR 38 in the House; S. 446 in the Senate) would require ALL STATES to recognize the right to carry concealed firearms, despite what laws currently exist in individual states against the practice. (Particularly galling while federal laws get stripped away to the chorus of “send it back to the states to decide”.) This means that NY State’s relatively strong gun laws would be overridden. In January, Rep. Katko signed on as co-sponsor of this bill. Please call him today and urge him to rescind this co-sponsorship. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Wednesday (June 14): 2 health-care calls today (1 state, 1 federal)

The fight against TrumpCare is still not done

Remarkably, despite the almost total lack of public support, congressional Republicans continue with their plan to enact TrumpCare. Today is a national call in day targeting US Senators. Here’s a recommended phone script; here’s a state-by-state map of TrumpCare’s disastrous impacts; here’s a top-10 list of the worst things about TrumpCare; and here are some factual responses to misleading Republican claims about the ACA and TrumpCare. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand are already firmly opposed to TrumpCare. If you haven’t previously called them on this issue, we recommend calling them today, thanking them for their opposition to TrumpCare, and asking for their position on Medicare for All. Their numbers are: Sen. Schumer (202-224-6542; 315-423-5471) and Sen. Gillibrand (202-224-4451; 315-448-0470). If you have friends or family in Maine, Alaska, Ohio, Colorado, or other states with potentially reachable Republican Senators, encourage your people to call them. (But don’t call those Republican Senators yourself; click here for a good explanation of why we don’t recommend phone calls to members of Congress who don’t represent you.)

Support the NY Health Act (S4840)

From our state legislative action team: While you’ve got health care on your mind, please make a call today in support of the NY Health Act too. This bill would provide universal, comprehensive health care to all New Yorkers without premiums, co-pays, deductibles, or limited provider networks. It would generate net savings of $45 billion. It is more important than ever that NYS work to counteract measures taken by our federal government that threaten our health care coverage. Call or email Governor Cuomo & demand he use his influence to urge NYS Senators to support this bill. Governor Cuomo at 1-518-474-8390, or to email go to www.governor.ny.gov and select CONTACT in the menu.

Thursday (June 15): 1 phone call today

Support the Liberty Act

From our State Legislative Action Team: It is more important than ever that NYS work to protect our undocumented immigrant community. Call or email your NYS Senator and demand support for the Liberty Act (S4075A). Most of us are represented in the State Senate by David Valesky (315-478-8745), John DeFrancisco (315-428-7632), or James Seward (607-432-5524), but if you’re not sure whose district you’re in, click here and enter your address to find out.

Friday (June 16): 2 phone calls today (1 state, 1 federal)

Block Trump’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Two weeks ago, President Trump announced that he had agreed to sell Saudi Arabia $110 billion in arms. That would be the biggest single weapons deal in the history of this country. Fortunately, members of Congress from both parties are working to block the worst of these weapons — specifically those most likely to cause significant harm to civilians — from ever reaching the Gulf. Please call Rep. Katko and urge him to sign on as co-sponsor for HJ Res 102, which would stand up for human rights by blocking the sale of some the world’s most dangerous weapons to Saudi Arabia. Katko’s numbers are 315-423-5657 (Syracuse), 315-253-4068 (Auburn), or 202-225-3701 (DC).

Support common-sense environmental legislation

From our State Legislative Action Team: Recycling paint is good for the environment keeping used paint out of landfills & saving on the energy it requires to manufacture paint. Please call NYS Assembly Leader Heastie (518-455-3791) & Chair of Environmental Conservation Committee Englebright (518-455-4804) and urge them to support the Paint Recycling Act (A1038). This should be an easy environmental bill to pass; similar legislation has passed in DC, CO, VT, CA, OR, RI, CT, ME, and MN. Heastie and Englebright’s staff may try to convince you a different paint recycling bill is better b/c it puts the cost on the manufacturer, but that bill has not passed the NYS Senate and isn’t likely to. Also, manufacturers will just pass the costs on to the consumer, likely increasing profits w/ large fees. A1038 has passed in the Senate and has a chance to pass the House as well. Recycling paint is good for the environment as it keeps used paint out of landfills & saves energy by reducing paint manufacturing. The recycled paint is donated to non-profits and the whole program is implemented by a non-profit called Paint Care which adjusts the fees down or up based on their cost of program implementation.

Celebrate Juneteenth in Syracuse

From 5-9pm, CNY Solidarity will be tabling at the Juneteenth celebration in Clinton Square. If you’d be willing to take a shift at the table, please email Dana Balter dana.balter@gmail.com.

Saturday (June 17)

No CNY Solidarity events today, but some of us will be marching in CNY Pride (to celebrate our diverse CNY LGBTQ communities), 10am-5pm at the Inner Harbor in Syracuse. Moms Demand Action will be marching in honor of 49 victims of Orlando Pulse shooting.

And some of us will be celebrating Juneteenth from 12-10pm. The parade starts at noon at the Dunbar Center and ends at Clinton Square, and the festival continues throughout the afternoon and evening. If you’d be willing to take a shift at the table, please email Dana Balter dana.balter@gmail.com.

Sunday (June 18)

No CNY Solidarity meeting today, but note that we’re meeting on Wed. of next week, and note the schedule of summer meetings penciled in below. For today, enjoy the free Sunday afternoon!

Save the date for these upcoming events:

June 19, 7-8:30pm: National Action Network Mayoral Candidates Forum, co-sponsored by CNY Solidarity and others, Southwest Community Center.

Wed., June 21, 7pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, Bishop Harrison Center

Sun., July 9, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Wed., July 26, 7pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Sun., Aug. 6, 3-5pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Wed., Aug. 23, 7pm: CNY Solidarity meeting, location TBD

Today and every day, be sure to follow us online and on social media!

Check out our website: www.cnysolidarity.org